"I've found that I can make better skins half the time than the nodes can do... " dieterderblau, the skin nodes only enhance already good textures when properly used, by helping to simulate the way light reflects off real flesh. It immediately removes the "plastic look" that is seen on so many Poser renders. I'm guessing you're adding a blank Skin node to the "Alternate Diffuse" value. Try dropping the "Diffuse" texture to black, linking your skin node to the "Alternate diffuse", setting the first value in the skin node to white and linking your texture map to that value. The results are very impressive, and only get better when you play with the rest of the values. I used to just throw a Skin node on the "Alternate Diffuse" without touching any of the other settings. Man, did I find out what I was doing wrong- wish I could remember which thread it was that showed me how to do it right.